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When shooting guard Jordan Mathews announced in late May that he would be leaving California as an immediately eligible transfer, Gonzaga was one of the schools first mentioned as possible destinations. Thursday night Mathews announced via his Twitter account that he has indeed committed to Mark Few’s program, giving the Bulldogs another quality perimeter option in a rotation that was already loaded.

Mathews will be one of two Pac-12 transfers on the Gonzaga roster next season, with former Washington point guard Nigel Williams-Goss eligible after sitting out last season. They join returnees such as Josh Perkins and Silas Melson, and one of the top perimeter shooters in the Class of 2016 in Zach Norvell in Gonzaga’s perimeter rotation.

Mathews averaged 13.4 points per game at Cal last season, shooting 42.2 percent from the field and 41.6 percent from beyond the arc. Adding him to a rotation that will not only have talent on the perimeter but in the post as well, with Przemek Karnowski being joined by Missouri transfer Jonathan Williams III and freshmen Zach Collins and Killian Tillie, makes Gonzaga an even tougher team to slow down offensively.

Already the preseason favorites to win the WCC, Gonzaga’s chances of making a national splash (which they were already expected by many to do) are even greater with the addition of Mathews.

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) No. 9 Gonzaga will enter the season set just about everywhere except at guard, a position of stability for years that now raises questions.

Not that coach Mark Few is without potential answers.

Four-year starting guards Kevin Pangos and Gary Bell Jr. graduated along with senior transfer Byron Wesley, leaving the Zags looking for the right back court combination among a host of talented options as they seek another deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

Freshman Josh Perkins, who is a candidate to replace Pangos at point guard, said practices have been intense as he battles with fellow guards Kyle Dranginis, Eric McClellan and Silas Melson to catch the eye of coaches.

“We are all playing for minutes,” Perkins said. “We’re going to push each other.”

Gonzaga’s situation is settled elsewhere. The Zags return the talented front court of Kyle Wiltjer, Domantas Sabonis and Przemek Karnowski to a team that reached the Elite Eight last season, though Few said “this team is a little void of leaders.”

“This is very much a team that will hopefully be on a growth trend all year,” Few said. “We are trying to hit the Zags standard.”

Much of Gonzaga’s success will depend on the three big men, who are all considered pro prospects.

The 6-foot-10 Wiltjer led the Zags in scoring with 16.8 points per game last season and added 6.2 rebounds.

“Kyle is as skilled a player as there is in college basketball,” Few said. “As skilled as I’ve ever coached.”

Sabonis, the 6-11 son of former NBA center Arvydas Sabonis, averaged 9.7 points and 7.1 rebounds per game as a freshman off the bench.

“With Domas, you get the heart of a lion,” Few said. “The guy is so physical, tough and aggressive and yet has a good feel for the game.”

The 7-foot-1 Karnowski averaged 10.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per game and blocked 39 shots.

“Shem is the unsung hero in all this and a guy I think will be a solid NBA guy for years,” Few said. “An excellent passer, great footwork and a high-level defender.”

The Zags went 35-3 last season, losing to eventual national champion Duke in the Elite Eight. They were 17-1 in the West Coast Conference, losing only at home to BYU.

WCC coaches have picked the Zags to win their fourth straight league title and 15th in the past 16 years. They have played in 17 straight NCAA tournaments, one of the longest streaks in the nation.

Things to watch at Gonzaga this season:

THE SCHEDULE: Gonzaga plays its typical killer nonconference schedule, designed to make up for playing in the modest WCC. This year they open against Pittsburgh in Okinawa, Japan, play Washington in the Bahamas, host No. 12 Arizona and UCLA in Spokane, play Tennessee in Seattle and SMU in Dallas.

THE GREAT KARNOWSKI: Karnowski, who goes by Shem, is on the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year watch list. The native of Poland clogs up the middle with his bulky frame and shot .622 from the field last year. Karnowski played with the Polish national team in the European Championships.

WILTJER DOESN’T WILT: Forward Kyle Wiltjer was named the CBS Sports Preseason Player of the Year. Last season he led the team with 16.8 points per game and shot a team-best .466 from behind the arc while making 68 3-pointers. Wiltjer played two years at Kentucky, where he won a national title. Last year was his first with the Zags, and he was named an AP Third-Team All-American.

RELOADING: The cupboard is never bare at Gonzaga. This year they have three transfers sitting out who become eligible next season. They include Nigel Williams-Goss, who led Washington in scoring last season, plus Johnathan Williams from Missouri and Jeremy Jones from Rice.

Annually head coach Mark Few prepares his Gonzaga Bulldogs for WCC play with a challenging non-conference slate that also benefits the team in its NCAA tournament seeding, and that will likely be the case in 2015-16 as well. Thursday, the school released its completed non-conference schedule, and it’s a slate that includes an appearance at the Battle 4 Atlantis and games against Arizona, UCLA and SMU.

Gonzaga will have to account for the loss of guards Kevin Pangos, Gary Bell Jr. and Byron Wesley from last season’s Elite Eight team, but they’re loaded with both talent and experience in the front court with Kyle Wiltjer, Przemek Karnowski and Damontas Sabonis all returning to Spokane.

The Bulldogs will open its season in Okinawa with a game against Pittsburgh in the Armed Forces Classic November 13. Gonzaga will complete the opening month of the regular season with three games in the Bahamas, with Washington being their first opponent at the Battle 4 Atlantis with Charlotte, UConn, Michigan, Syracuse, Texas and Texas A&M rounding out the field.

December features home games against Arizona (December 5) and UCLA (December 12), and they’ll play Tennessee in the Battle in Seattle December 19. The Bulldogs open WCC play two days after their game in Seattle, with a Pepperdine team that has the players needed to crack the top three visiting The Kennel. Gonzaga’s final non-conference game won’t be played until February 13, when they visit SMU in one of two true road games they’ll play outside of WCC play.

Over the years Gonzaga’s had a great deal of success with international prospects, not just recruiting them but developing them into high-level college basketball players. Saturday head coach Mark Few landed another international prospect, as forward Killian Tillie became the Bulldogs’ second commitment in the Class of 2016.

The 6-foot-8 Tillie, whose older brother Kim played at Utah, is a native of France who plays for INSEP Academy in Paris. Last summer Tillie represented France at the FIBA U16 European Championships, averaging 14.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game in helping lead the team to the title. Tillie, who led the event in field goal percentage (63.4 percent), was named tournament MVP.

Tillie also represented France in this summer’s FIBA U18 3-on-3 World Championships, an event in which the French finished third. France defeated the United States team, which included Tillie’s future teammate Collins, in the quarterfinals.

Tillie and Collins are key additions for Gonzaga moving forward, as they’ll lose seniors Kyle Wiltjer and Przemek Karnowski at the end of the 2015-16 campaign. Both Tillie and Collins have the skill to be immediate contributors for the Bulldogs when they arrive on campus, and given the departures they’ll need to be.

Sunday afternoon USA Basketball revealed the 12 players who will represent the country at this month’s Pan-American Games in Toronto, with the team being a mix of current collegians and professional players. Among those who survived the cut from 16 to 12 were Maryland point guard Melo Trimble and Wichita State shooting guard Ron Baker, who will be two of the top players in the country at their respective positions this coming college season.

Joining Trimble and Baker as collegians on the roster are Virginia guard Malcolm Brogdon, University of Louisiana forward Shawn Long, Baylor forward Taurean Prince, Arizona center Kaleb Tarczewski and Michigan State guard Denzel Valentine. That group will be joined by five players who are currently playing at the professional level overseas or in the NBA in guard Bobby Brown, center Ryan Hollins, guard Keith Langford, forward Anthony Randolph and guard Damien Wilkins.

Serving as head coach is Gonzaga’s Mark Few, with Colorado head coach Tad Boyle and former NBA head coach Mike Brown being his assistants.

“It’s a group of hard-working guys who have done a great job in camp of really playing together and being unselfish,” Few said in the release. “They came into camp with a great attitude and mindset to really work, and now we’ve got to start formulating and playing to our strengths. This is a group that’s got some versatility, and I think we should be able to play a couple different ways.”

Beginning Monday the team will train at the Chicago Bulls’ practice facility until the 16th, heading north of the border following that for games that begin Tuesday, July 21. In group play (Group B) the United States will play games against Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Brazil, with the top two teams in each group advancing into the semifinals.

The four teams in Group A are hosts Canada (which will suit up a team that includes Anthony Bennett and Kentucky freshman Jamal Murray), Argentina, Dominican Republic and Mexico.

Gonzaga, which has two rising seniors in its front court in Przemek Karnowski and Kyle Wiltjer, picked up a major addition to its rotation Saturday evening.

Johnathan Williams, who played two seasons at Missouri before deciding to transfer, will join Mark Few’s program. Williams announced the decision via social media, and the Bulldogs beat out Georgetown and SMU for the 6-foot-9 forward’s commitment. He’ll have two seasons of eligibility remaining after sitting out the 2015-16 season.

“Thanks for all of the schools that recruited me & after careful consideration, I chosen to further my career at Gonzaga University,” Williams posted. “I am proud to say I’m a ZAG! God take the wheel, you’re in control!”

In 2014-15 Williams was one of the lone bright spots for a Missouri team that struggled mightily, as he accounted for 11.9 points and 7.1 rebounds in 29.4 minutes of action per game. Recently Gonzaga’s had success with front court players who’ve had to sit out a season, be it Wiltjer following his transfer from Kentucky or Kelly Olynyk’s decision to take a redshirt year in 2011-12.

Given the fact that Wiltjer and Karnowski will be moving on after the 2015-16 season, Williams will be an important piece when he becomes eligible to play in 2016-17. Also having eligibility remaining for that season are Domantas Sabonis and 7-footer Ryan Edwards. Gonzaga also has a front court commitment in the Class of 2016 in 6-foot-10 big man Zach Collins.